Our next stop was Kusadasi, Turkey, where we visited ancient Ephesus. We signed up to do the Best of Ephesus, which took us to Mary's house, Ephesus, St John's Basilica, and to a carpet demonstration. Mary's house was this place where they say she lived the last 5 years of her life. Of course, the house is rebuilt, but it was still pretty neat to see. It was tiny and you walked in single file, no talking, and if your back was showing, they gave you a lovely scarf to cover it. A nun was at the far door and she looked like she could take you down if you messed with her Virgin Mary. Outside of the house you could light a candle or write a prayer for the Virgin Mary. You could also fill a jar with the "holy water" outside from the spring and take it back with you. We weren't quite sure what we would do with that, so we by passed that... The drive up to the house and Ephesus was gorgeous. Turkey was beautiful and very clean. Ephesus was amazing in person. So much history and it just is so weird to think this is how people lived, they were here, living just like us... and Paul was here preaching! What?! It was overwhelming at times and made it seem like it was more real than I previously believed. The library and the theatre were my favorites. The old bathrooms were interesting, with a ditch of water that flowed at your feet to wash your hands afterwards. Supposedly servants would also warm up the stone for your back side in the winter. Mmm. While we were in Ephesus, this little group put together a show of how it would have been back in the day. It was really stupid, but hey, we watched, I cheered, Jack rolled his eyes, it was great.
Next, we went to St John's Basilica, where he was believed to be buried. Around the site was a Mosk that went into chants and there was something great about being there seeing the country side and hearing the sounds of Turkey. Lunch was next at a "5 star" hotel that was super good, but I didn't get to have Turkish Delight. I always think of the Lion, the witch, and the wardrobe when I think of Turkish Delight =). I'm not sure I would like it anyways. I did however have some Turkish wine at the carpet demonstration that was quite disgusting and I was kicking myself for not getting the traditional apple tea. The carpet demonstration was very interesting, but the whole time knew we would not be buying anything. I kept thinking about being haggled, but no haggling, they were very nice and professional.
On the way back to the ship, I was once again reminded of Mj's passing by this poster in a store window.
The next stop was Rhodes, another greek island. Rhodes had a totally different feel, being the Knight's hopitallers came in and captured it, giving it a very medieval feel. Old Town, which is right of the port, has a huge wall around it and a castle, with lots of shops, restaurants, and parks. Outside of the medieval wall is called New Town. Jack and I decided to see Old Town and then head to the beach and maybe a winery. I had seen a winery that I wanted to check out, but it was about an hour away. As we were walking blindly around the town, all of a sudden we came across an information center. They were extremely nice and helped us figure out how to get to the beach and a winery. They showed us another place that may be good that was located in town that we could hit up afterwards. Before going to the beach, we had a traditional greek lunch at a cafe. I had greek meatballs, pita, and saganaki. The beach was gorgeous, with perfect weather. Before heading to the ship, we decided to venture to this winery. The taxi driver pulled up and it looked like we were at an abandoned warehouse. Seriously? We told our driver to wait on us... "give us 15 minutes". We were the only ones there and it was pretty much a warehouse. Hilarious. We did try the wine in about 5 minutes-fastest time ever-because we were nervous to be the only ones in this shady warehouse and hoping our driver wouldn't leave. The wine was good, bought a bottle and headed back. We both had a good laugh out of that and knew it would have been a much better option to go to the winery an hour away. Oh well! If we hadn't gone, I would have always wondered. Thankfully, we have a much better winery experience in Santorini.
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